The Hardest Test of All -- Success 

When we are little in our own eyes, we have room for the greatness of God.  But when we become great in our own eyes, we leave no room for God to manifest His greatness through us. When we sin and repent, however, God does forgive us.

Yet it is important for us all to remember that God’s forgiveness does not necessarily cancel all the consequences of our sins, as was the case in King David’s time of total success when he forgot the principles he lived by before he became king.  God warned him after he sinned: "Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house” (2 Samuel 12:10).